In a recent interview, veteran video game designer Hideo Kojima described PlayStation‘s digital-only future as a “really sad” state of affairs, in addition to outlining some other concerns about the newly confirmed end of the physical game era. His comments about Sony’s move away from physical discs echo those made by many fans and industry watchers in recent days, but they carry particular weight because they come from one of PlayStation’s most prominent past and present collaborators.
A July 1 PlayStation Blog article announced the end of physical disc production for both the PS4 and PS5. The decision, which will apply to games released from January 2028 onward, sparked major online backlash that has continued for five consecutive days and counting as of July 5.
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Gamers upset about Sony’s decision to cease production of physical PlayStation discs start a petition that is quickly gaining steam.
Kojima Calls End of Physical Games Era as ‘Sad’ and ‘Frightening’
Veteran Game Designer Also Sees Digital-Only Gaming Future as a Warning to the Film Industry
During a recent appearance at the Il Cinema in Piazza film festival in Rome, Kojima fielded a question about Sony’s controversial decision to stop producing new physical PlayStation game discs in 2028. “I grew up with physical media, so I find it really sad,” the industry veteran said, adding that he has recently been expanding his physical media collection, according to a translation by Genki_JPN. Kojima acknowledged that the situation is not identical for games, since downloaded titles can still remain on players’ own hardware. However, he suggested that a broader shift toward streaming would be far more troubling because it would leave vast amounts of players and viewers dependent on remote servers controlled by subscription providers.
If cloud service companies, or even just the political and regulatory environments around them, ever change course, the media people care about could simply stop being distributed, Kojima opined. “That is what is frightening.” The head of Kojima Productions concluded this train of thought with a warning that what is happening to games in 2028 could eventually happen to movies as well.
Why Kojima’s New PlayStation Concerns Hit Harder Than Most
Kojima’s comments carry particular weight given his long history as one of PlayStation’s most important third-party creative partners. Several of his Metal Gear Solid games spent significant time as Sony console exclusives, while P.T., the playable teaser for his canceled PS4-exclusive Silent Hills project, became a horror touchstone and helped influence a generation of horror games. Kojima’s PlayStation legacy continued after his 2015 departure from Konami, with Kojima Productions releasing Death Stranding and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach as critically acclaimed timed PlayStation exclusives. His next collaboration with Sony seems no less significant, having been teased as a spiritual successor to Metal Gear‘s tactical espionage action formula called Physint.
Kojima is thus more than an outside observer criticizing Sony’s latest business decision. Few third-party creators are as closely tied to PlayStation’s past, present, and future, which makes his concerns about the end of physical PlayStation discs especially notable. For someone with that record to describe Sony’s controversial digital-only trajectory as both “sad” and “frightening” amounts to one of the most prominent public criticisms the company could receive from within its extended creative orbit.
